Political and Ethical Lessons in the Fog of War
In the 1960’s, it was all about the Vietnam War. John F. Kennedy who was then the president of the United States of America was key in the commissioning of his nation to invade Vietnam. However, the role of Robert McNamara cannot go unnoticed either (Doherty, 19). At the time, he was viewed as the president’s right hand man and, therefore, had all prior knowledge on what was going to happen every time, including this war. However, it was only after the war that he said that the war was a mistake. Despite not offering an apology for his involvement, he said that the invasion should not have happened in the first place and that the role of America in the war was significant but not useful. The recent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are nothing but an echo of the same gruesome mistakes. It is wrong to create governments for other people without their prior consent, and more so, it is even worse to engage in fights that do not concern the country at all. One of the eleven lessons that McNamara offered was that the best interest of another country should be a matter of international discussion and not a fellow country (Boggs, 467). Another lesson is that the Congress and the American people should have been involved thoroughly in the discussion about the invasion (Williams, 56). If at least these two lessons from the war in Vietnam had been followed, then the situation that resulted from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could not have occurred at all.
Whenever there is a situation of political instability in any country, it is the duty of the country itself to seek their solutions. However, there are cases in which the stability cannot be achieved internally, which lead to the need for international attention. For this case, there are international bodies for the duty where mainly it is the UN, which has the mandate over such issues. In the war in Vietnam, the government of the USA did not wait for any of the processes (Harrison, 1115). Instead, the country took it as their initiative to engage in a war that it did not have any interest at all. In fact, McNamara says that it was an impromptu decision. The country took upon itself to waste the resources of its people in a war that they did not harbor any interest.
Fast forward to a few decades later, and it is evident that the country did not learn anything. In fact, it puts forward a question forward whether the real enemy of the USA is the Taliban or itself. The situation in Iraq was supposed to be a matter to be discussed by the UN and reach a unanimous decision. However, this was not the case, and the country ended up invading Iraq and causing more turmoil than there was before (Stiglitz & Linda, 201). The fact that the country even went as far as recently capturing and killing the former leader of Iraq is a show of the impatience and chest thumping that have become characteristic of the country (Shapiro, 93). As if that was not enough lessons, the country went on to invade Afghanistan. This has turned out to become one of the most acrimonious battles both on and off the battlefield. The international community has shown its back to America and clearly shown that the invasion was not a suitable decision. If only the advice from McNamara was followed, then none of this war, which has led to the loss of many lives, would happen at all (Chandrasekaran, 256).
The irony with both of these wars is that the public do not have a full picture of the proceedings. Most of the Americans cannot explain what the war is all about which is a result of the government not explaining the intentions and motives that it has in the countries that they invade (Gutman et al, 83). It was clear that the close monitoring of Afghanistan was a result of the bombings, but it seems that since then, the motives of the war have changed. War is a matter of national interest, and therefore, it is quite depressing to note that even the congress was not consulted much for both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Chandrasekaran, 256). If again the advice that McNamara gave in his lessons were to be followed, then the war would not have occurred at all. This is because most of the Americans are clearly against the existence of the war (Gutman et al, 83).
In conclusion, it is imperative to not that the war in Vietnam ended up as a messy affair. This was the main reason as to why McNamara offered the lessons on the war specifically. However, that advice has fallen into deaf years in the past years, which has led to the country repeating the same mistakes repeatedly (Kwŏn, 43). War is not an issue that a country cannot just jump into, especially where it has no interest. Therefore, if only the lessons from McNamara on the war of Vietnam had been followed, then the country would not have fallen under the same trap of performing the same mistakes.
Works cited
Boggs, Carl. “Vietnam, Mcnamara, And The Fog Of History.” New Political Science 26.3 (2004): 459-472. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 July 2012.
Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.
Doherty, Thomas. “The Fog Of War (Film).” Cineaste 29.1 (2003): 19. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 22 July 2012.
Gutman, Roy, David Rieff, and Anthony G. Dworkin. Crimes of War 2.0: What the Public Should Know. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2007. Print.
Harrison, Benjamin T. “The Fog Of War: Eleven Lessons From The Life Of Robert S. Mcnamara.” Journal Of American History 92.3 (2005): 1115-1116. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 July 2012.
Kwŏn, Hŏn-ik. Ghosts of War in Vietnam. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008. Print.
Shapiro, Ann-Louise. “The Fog Of War: Writing The War Story Then And Now.” History & Theory 44.1 (2005): 91-101. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 July 2012.
Stiglitz, Joseph E, and Linda Bilmes. The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. Print.
Williams, Deane. “The Fog Of War.” Metro 141 (2004): 56. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 22 July 2012.
